Employer: Springer Nature Ltd

Location: Beijing (CN)

Closing date: 12 Dec 2023

JOB TITLE:               Solution Specialist Nature Research

DEPARTMENT:       Specialized Sales

REPORTS TO:          Head of Solution Specialists, Nature Portfolio

LOCATION:                Beijing

Position Summary and General Description:

We are looking for a Solution Specialist Nature for supporting our new sales activities in Greater China.

The Solution Specialist will support the local sales teams to generate demand for Nature journals from researchers (key users) and from librarians (buyers). In order to be successful in this role, the candidate must gain deep knowledge of each Nature journal and be convincing in explaining the relevancy and value of Nature journals to various stakeholders. This includes a strong analytical approach using various data sources and the development of tailored customer assessments with recommendations which journals should be licensed and why. Furthermore, the ideal candidate is capable to provide workshops and trainings for researchers explaining the publishing process and presenting Nature journals.

The job also requires establishing and expanding trustful rapports to multiple customer stakeholders, which include content acquisition managers, subject librarians, faculty leaders and research to name few. The Solution Specialist works closely with the local sales team and will also participate in commercial meetings to support the winning of new business.

Given the specific propositions of the Nature branded journals, the ideal candidate must be very passionate about high quality research content and motivated to learn and to explain what makes the content different to other sciences journals in the market.

The Solution Specialist Nature is part of the global Solution Specialists team reporting to the Head of Solution Specialists, Nature Portfolio based in Tokyo, Japan. The position is located in one of our offices in Beijing.

Responsibilities:

• Direct contribution to the new business goals for Nature branded Journals in the assigned territory
• Knowledge of the Nature journals and ability to explain the content of each journal to customers and relate the content to customer’s research areas
• Generating demand for Nature journals at faculty level by engaging with faculty leaders, research group leaders to present journals suitable for their research field
• Perform market and customer analysis to identify new sales potential and to develop a target account list in cooperation with Market Intelligence, the local sales director and sales team members.
• Collaborate with Product Marketing, Institutional Marketing and the Account Development Managers to raise awareness and to generate interest for Nature portfolio journals in the market, in particularly for the new launch titles.
• Develop customer assessment reports with upsell recommendations, which includes comprehensive academic output analysis on customer specific research focus and trends using various tools like VOSviewer, SN insights, Scopus and Web of Science.
• Effectively present and explain the proposal to sales, to customers’ buyers and subject matter experts in order to generate new sales opportunities
• Describe the customer specific commercial benefits and value of subscribing to the additional content
• Support product trials with specific information and product training to ensure sufficient end-user engagement
• Prepare and deliver the tailored author workshops and engage with researchers to generate interest for Nature journals
• Attend academic conferences to promote the awareness of Nature Branded Journals

Job Requirements

• Candidates should have a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Physics; Life Science, Medicine or a similar subject
• 3 + years work experience, ideally for a scientific publisher
• Involvement in customer-facing sales activities to academic and governmental institutions
• Commercial mindset
• Analytical skills, converting information from various data sourcing into convincing product recommendations
• Excellent presentation skills.  Must possess experience presenting to groups of peers, management and clients.
• Excellent communication (reading, writing, speaking and listening) and interpersonal skills
• Self-motivated quick learner, disciplined time management and result-driven
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel, Word)
• Basic pipeline management experience
• Proven ability to collaborate and perform in a culturally and language-wise diverse territory
• Ability to thrive in a complex work environment
• Travel requirement is up to 50% of work time
• Fluent in Chinese and English

What can you expect in your role?

• Working for a global, innovative publisher
• Ongoing investment in the dedicated journals
• Professional onboarding and training program
• Extensive online resources to assist with your self-development
• Result-driven and cooperative environment
• Excellent team support and coaching on the job